The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for forecasting early design construction cost of building projects using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Eighty questionnaires distributed among construction organizations were utilized to identify significant parameters for the building project costs. 169 case studies of building projects were collected from the construction industry in Gaza Strip. The case studies were used to develop ANN model. Eleven significant parameters were considered as independent input variables affected on "project cost". The neural network model reasonably succeeded in estimating building projects cost without the need for more detailed drawings. The average percentage error of tested dataset for the adapted model was largely acceptable (less than 6%). Sensitivity analysis showed that the area of typical floor and number of floors are the most influential parameters in building cost.
To cite this article: Nabil I. El Sawalhi and Osama El Agha. (2017). Multi-attribute utility theory for selecting an appropriate procurement method in the construction projects. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 22(1): 75-96. https://doi.org/10.21315/jcdc2017.22.1.5To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.21315/jcdc2017.22.1.5
Abstract:The selection of an appropriate procurement method is becoming an increasingly important issue due to complex decision making that clients are facing early in the lifecycle of construction projects. The aim of this paper is to improve the procurement system in the construction industry by developing a model using the multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) as a decision support system for the selection of an appropriate procurement method for construction projects in the Gaza Strip. Factors that influence the selection of an appropriate method for construction projects in the Gaza Strip are identified and the results indicate that the most significant six factors influencing the selection of procurement methods in the Gaza Strip construction projects are price competition, degree of project complexity, time constraints of the project, project size, client financial capability and client experience in procurement methods. The study concludes that there is no variety of procurement methods used in the Gaza Strip construction industry, as a traditional procurement method is preferred. This is because most professionals in the Gaza Strip are not familiar or experienced with alternative procurement methods. A model was developed using the MAUT to select the most appropriate procurement method. The MAUT as a decision support system was successful in identifying the appropriate procurement method.
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